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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “runner”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “runner”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Trade Runner 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Paymattic – Secure, Simple Payment & Donation with Subscription Payments, Recurring Donations, Customer Management 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Advanced Cron Scheduler for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Uptime Monitoring for WordPress – My Website is Online 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 AI Search Analytics & Tracking 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 C Carb planner for runners — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Kodlo Product Gallery for Elementor 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 RoutineKit – Repeatable WordPress Workflow Checklists for Agencies 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 AssistKit – Site Optimizer Toolkit 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 RVS Database Doctor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Webixso – WordPress Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 SmartCloud Static Publisher 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 AMPM Queue Manager for Action Scheduler 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 Plugixa Exam – Online Exams, Live Monitoring, Quizzes & Certificates — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 CourseGlade LMS – Online Course & eLearning Platform 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too high 19 Honeylog 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 SiteIntelix – Developer & Admin Toolkit 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Demo Reset – Robust Demo Website Automation — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 PayPlus Payment Gateway 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 OptiForge Image Optimizer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Activity Track – User Activity Log & Security Monitor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.